Clark Atlanta University student was strangled by roommate’s boyfriend, police say in affidavit

A Clark Atlanta University student was strangled by her roommate’s boyfriend and left in the woods at a local park after she was killed, court documents from the Atlanta police say.

The documents, which include police reports and interview summaries, paint a detailed picture of the last hours of Crawford’s life and say that Jordyn Jones, Crawford’s roommate, and Jones’ boyfriend Barron Brantley confessed to investigators.

Jones told police that she asked Crawford to take her to a liquor store at around 11:30 p.m. October 30, according to a police report.

Hours later, Crawford and Jones, were “engaged in a physical altercation,” Jones told police, according to another report. The boyfriend got involved and, “As a result of the physical altercation, Barron Brantley choked the victim until she was deceased,” the same report states.

Brantley and Jones placed Crawford’s body in a plastic bin and took her to a park, a police report states.

Crawford’s remains were found at the park on November 8 after one of the suspects led police there.

Roommates were best friends

Jones was a close friend who had spent holidays with the victim’s family, a family spokesman said Sunday.

Jones spent at least one Thanksgiving and Easter holiday with Crawford’s family over the past few years, the Rev. Markel Hutchins told CNN in an interview. Jones, who is from Michigan, and Crawford, who was from Athens, Georgia, started as freshmen together at the university, he said.

On occasion, Crawford, 21, had referred to Jones, 21, as her “best friend,” Hutchins said.

“It was a regular occurrence for Jordyn to spend time with Alexis’ family and to engage with Alexis’ siblings,” Hutchins said.

He added: “To know that someone that they welcomed into home played a role in Alexis’ death is all the more hurtful.”

Days before her disappearance, Crawford filed a police report describing unwanted kissing and touching from Brantley, police said.

Brantley was booked into the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta on Friday. He is accused of murder along with three probation violations and “hindering person making emergency telephone call,” according to information from the Fulton County Jail.

Jones was booked Saturday and faces a murder charge, according to jail records.

Brantley and Jones waived their initial court appearances on Monday. Their court-appointed public defenders could not be reached. CNN reached out to the attorneys again Tuesday.

Brantley’s next court date is November 22 and Jones is scheduled to return to court November 25, said Tracy Flanagan, a spokeswoman for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.

Crawford was the third youngest of 10 children, Hutchins said. He said she was “really everything we want and expect our young people to be.”

Hutchins recalled one of Crawford’s aunts describing her as “affectionate.” She would greet relatives with a big hug.

Crawford’s family feels “overwhelming grief, and it is undergirded by a sense of disbelief,” Hutchins said.

He said the family is “obviously hurt and angry and devastated but what I’ve not heard is a sense of hatred.”

“There is no evident hatred or even animus towards Jordyn. What the family is focused on now, is Alexis,” he said.

Crawford’s funeral service will be held on Saturday at Hill Chapel Baptist Church in Athens.